Broadway Melody
by CrazyMich
Summary: Ryan and Kelsi are off to Julliard. Will they be each others lucky star or will it be love on the rocks?
1. Chapter 1

The song that Ryan sings to in this is New York, New York. The lyrics here are a first time try, so hopefully they aren't too bad.

**Departure**

Normally, Ryan Evans didn't mind riding in Sharpay's Pepto Bismal drunk mustang convertible. He could just lean back, kick his feet up on the dash, as long as his feet were shoed in a designer brand, and listen to his favorite music. Summer break was at an end but the weather had refused to agree. It was warm and comfortable and just enough breeze to take the worst of the heat off the beating sun.

But today, he was too tense, too full of nervous energy to truly enjoy the ride and relax. He would be leaving Albuquerque, New Mexico, his home for the last three years, and traveling across the country to New York City. Julliard. The school that every performance artist dreamed of.

Shar had droned on endlessly about how terrible he was for leaving her behind and that he absolutely had to keep her up to date on all the fabulous fashions in New York. The whole of the summer he couldn't wait to leave for Julliard, to escape her prattle, his mother's nerves, or his father's disapproving eye.

At first, Cord Evans had seemed pleased with Ryan's acceptance into the Julliard school, but it had quickly disintegrated. He knew his father had always harbored hope that Ryan would eventually decide to pursue a baseball career, but he'd misjudge how much his father had truly wanted it.

"Okay. Bye, Mummy. Kisses," Sharpay chirped over the cell phone, before snapping it shut and sticking it in it's cradle. "Mother's going to meet us at the airport. I still can't believe you're leaving me, Ry. What will you do without me? Who will take care of you?"

Ryan repressed a sigh. "It will be difficult, but somehow I'll manage."

She looked over at him, beaming a smile, having missed the sarcasm lacing his voice. "Of course, you will."

He gave her a weak smile as the Albuquerque International Sunport loomed up ahead of them. His heart decided to beat at a triple staccato count right then. This would be the perfect time for a few Yoga exercises. Instead, he took deep, even breaths.

Sharpay skidded the Mustang next to one of the baggage carriers, nearly jumping the curb and hitting a number of passerby. They scattered, murmuring and pointing as Sharpay swung her door open and popped her trunk as oblivious as ever. Sometimes, he envied his sister her ability to tune out anything that troubled her.

Ryan snatched the baggage carrier and began unloading his luggage, each an variant of blue that wouldn't clash with the very pink Mustang. Sharpay took Boi out of his carrier, before handing the keys to the valet and slipping him a twenty while 'requesting' a parking place with shade.

The double doors parted as Sharpay marched ahead. Ryan, intrepid traveler that he was, had booked his flight at a time where the airport was the quietest. Because of this, they spotted their mother quickly.

Evelyn Evans was way beyond a modern day mother. She looked more like a fashion designer posing for the latest magazine, than a mother ready to send her son off to college. Reginald, Evelyn's personal driver, stood to her right, unobtrusive, nearly invisible. She was casting a brown-eyed gaze around the terminal, no doubt planning to send the manager a list of decorative changes.

One look at him and Evelyn's eyes filled with crocodile tears. She held her arms out to him and he stepped into her hug.

"Hi, Mom," he said brightly.

"Ducky," she said, her voice half-chocked. "Oh, my darling boy."

"Mother, you'll smudge your mascara," Sharpay warned her, though Ryan was surprised to hear the same tears in her voice.

He pulled gently away from Evelyn's grasp and turned to face Sharpay. His twin. The other half of him. The ying to his yang. "Shar," he breathed, sympathetically.

She stomped her foot and the pout that was usually a part of her act, was strikingly real. "What am I going to do without you?"

It was what she'd been saying all along in her own special way. No one had ever asked him, but he knew the question was in everyone of his friends' minds. Why did he put up with Sharpay's antics? The answer was simple. She needed him. And because she needed him, he needed her.

The last year had changed much of that. It had long stopped being Ryan and Sharpay in everything, even if she did try to sway him to her side for the spring musical. He already had his part, choreographer, and he didn't mind sharing the spotlight with everyone else.

The show had been better for it.

He had been better for it.

With a hand behind her neck, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, then gave a bright laugh. "Are you kidding? You're Sharpay Evans. You're going to blow U of A out of the water. And next year, I won't be the only Evans at Julliard."

"I'll never have some one who knows me like you do, the way you do," he sung softly.

"I've never had some one as good for me as you, no on like you," she finished.

Grinning now, she swiped at the tears under her eyes. "Break a leg, Ry."

"You too, Shar."

Boi yipped at him and Ryan ruffled his conditioned hair. "Bye, Boi."

His mother engulfed him in another hug, slipping a wad of hundred into his hands. "Mom...," he began.

"Take it, Ducky. I don't want my darling boy destitute."

"All right," he agreed, pocketing the money into his plaid pants.

"Do you need help with your luggage?" his mother asked.

"No, I've got it."

"Flight 129, Albuquerque, New Mexico to New York, New York, now boarding."

His eyes darted up at the sound, then shot to the clock.

"Time to start something new, I'm leaving today," he sang, hugging his mother and sister one last time.

Pushing his carrier, at a run, he quickly stepped onto it and road it down the corridor. "Time for a bigger part in it – Julliard, Julliard."

An airport attendant stepped out and grabbed the carrier as Ryan leaped off, ending in a spin. "The past is over now, I won't throw it away."

"Right to the center stage of it – Julliard, Julliard." He threw his arms and hands out, fingers splayed and waving. "I wanna start singing my ditty, my own creed. And be top of the class, taking the lead."

With a cry, he caught a young woman in a dancing hold and pranced her around the corridor. He kissed her hand and waved.

Running for the concourse, he belted, "Let's get there faster, can't stand to wait! I'm going; yes I'm going to Julliard! Singin', Dancin', Theatre, I'll do it guess where? Gotta dance, yes dance at Julliard."

Kicking, his legs up, Ryan was lost in the song.

"Julliard, Julliard! I wanna start singing my ditty, my own creed. And find I'm number one, top of the class, taking the lead. 'A' number one."

Jazz square, pivet, passé and abruptly, he was in line, waiting for the ticket tacker to pass him through the gate.

"Let's get there faster, can't stand to wait! I'm going; yes I'm going to Julliard! Singin', Dancin', Theatre, I'll do it guess where?"

"It's up to you Julliard, Julliard!!"

Someone cleared their throat and the brass and strings playing in his head ceased. "Um, sir?"

He blinked at the gray haired gentleman, who held out a gnarled hand towards him. "You're ticket, sir."

"Yeah, sorry," he fumbled in his jacket before producing the ticket. The gentleman took it, ran it through his scanner, then handed it back.

"Thanks," Ryan murmured. Following his fellow passengers, he let out a slow breath. "Okay, I'm worse than Sharpay."


	2. Chapter 2

There will be more singing, but not in this chapter. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and if you didn't know I don't own High School Musical. If I did, it would have more Ryan and Kelsi.

**Arrival**

The cab that had picked her up from the airport smelled of old gym socks and stale cigarette smoke. But the driver was a friendly man in his late thirties, who offered his own ongoing amateur tour as they drove along the crowded streets. Remembering to breath in and out of her nose, Kelsi listened while gazing wide-eyed out the window.

"Your first time here?" the cabby asked.

She gave a shy smile. "Is it that obvious?"

He chuckled at her embarrassment. "Everyone gets that stuck in the headlight look. Won't have that look to you much longer though, will you?"

"No," she said, feeling that flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

Though Kelsi had spent much of her high school years feeling outside of the status quo, with Sharpay and Ryan as necessary acquaintances, she had always been comfortable with her surroundings and eventually the growing relationships she'd developed from her junior year on. There had been times during the summer that she'd been dead set against going, moments of horrifying doubt that she could survive outside of the Wildcat experience.

Ryan had made her promise that he'd see her there on August 24th or he would personally get on the next flight to Albuquerque and drag her back to New York with him. Knowing his father, it was very possible that it could be a helicopter and that Ryan meant every word.

'There is no way I'm going to Juilliard and not have the chance to choreograph one of your numbers again,' he had told her.

A smile graced her features at the memory. As with any thought of Ryan, she felt a mixture of emotions; confusion, excitement, and trepidation. Over the last few months of senior year they had grown close, going to prom, working on the spring musical, even going out a few times. But then Troy and Gabriella had asked her to come on a road trip to California and everything between them had been put off until later.

Until now.

"Here you are, little missy?" the cabby interrupted.

Kelsi blinked. Then blinked again. She'd seen pictures of the Lincoln Center from the Juilliard brochure, little 2"X2" pictures, but the scene before her could not be captured so easily by photography. From the street she could see the flat edge of a reflecting pool, lined with cherry and apple trees, their leaves just starting to turn for the coming fall. Abstract sculptures in ebony dotted the courtyard. And then there was a school itself, a magnificent white building, with welcoming windows, shining brightly in the morning sun.

Several tables were set up around the courtyard, banners hanging above them with letters of the alphabet; A-D, E-K, L-Q, R-T, and U-Z.

She let out a breath, she hadn't noticed she'd been holding, in a silent drag. "Breath, Kelsi. Breath." She stilled herself. This was her dream and she wasn't going to let a moments fear hold her back.

"Thanks," she told the cabby. "How much do I owe you?"

"Thirty-five."

Pulling the bills from her overnight bag, she handed them up to him with one hand, cracking the door open with the other.

"Good luck," he called to her as she stepped out.

She gave him a tremulous smile, shutting the car door. He pulled away almost instantly. And Kelsi was abandoned on her first steps into her future.

Slowly, as though expecting to wake up from this dream, Kelsi walked over to the table that read 'L-Q', and waited her turn. Once and a while, she found her eyes straying to the another table, 'E-K' but there was no blond head tucked beneath a stylish hat standing in the line.

Kelsi did her best to ignore that fact. Ryan was coming. He wouldn't miss this opportunity.

"Name?" A girl three or four years older than Kelsi, with hair so black that it glowed blue in the sunlight asked.

"Um, Kelsi Nielson," she answered, nervously tucking a strand of honey brown hair behind her ear.

The girl nodded absently, walking over to a box of manilla envelopes, fingered through them before selecting one and pulling it out. "It has your resident's pass, your schedule for orientation and instructions for when registration begins. First evaluation meeting starts at 10:00 a.m. Student services will be shooting ID photos throughout the day."

Kelsi walked away, nodding quietly, doing her best not to tear into the envelope like a rabid dog.

"Kelsi!" a voice rang out over the courtyard.

"Corra," she greeted with a bright relieved smile.

Corra Sage would be her roommate for her first year at Juilliard. The school had sent them information and they had exchanged pictures via Facebook and had conversed several times over the phone. Kelsi liked the outspoken and outgoing Corra, even though at times she could be as domineering as Sharpay.

She was tall, slim, with skin the color of milky cocoa and hair dyed to varying shades of caramel. There was a presence about Corra that made Kelsi instantly aware of her. It was no surprise that she was in the drama school.

"It's a mad house, isn't it?" Corra said, looping an arm through Kelsi's as though they had been friends for ages.

Kelsi nodded enthusiastically.

"Have you been to residence hall yet?"

"No, just got my orientation packet," Kelsi replied, waving the manilla envelope.

"Come on. I'll take you to the Hall and then we can stop by student services and get your student ID. Oh, and I found this cute little coffee shop not to far from here. When they call for lunch, we should go there."

Kelsi found herself in a familiar pattern, nodding as Corra continued to chat on, thankful that the other girl didn't really expect her to carry the conversation. Corra maneuvered them through the crowd like a pro and pretty soon they were stepping through the doors of The Rose Building.

Marching through the doors, Corra showed her student pass and walked straight past one bank of elevators to another that was set more quietly out of the traffic. "These are the student elevators. You have a pass card in your packet."

"Okay," Kelsi muttered, her mind reeling at the briskness her future was moving.

"We're at the top floor and it has a spectacular view, you'll love it. I haven't seen any of the others yet, but it shouldn't be too much longer. Our RA is in our suite, so that should make the year easier. She's a dance major, so we know at least we have one person from each college here."

"Whose you're first evaluation with?" Corra changed subjects the next moment, as she selected their floor.

Kelsi steadied her overnight bag, before peeling open the envelope and pulling out her folder with all her orientation papers. "Counterpoint with Mr. Julian," she read allowed. "For three hours."

"Brutal," Corra echoed her feelings.

The elevator stopped with a bing and Corra lead her down the hall to a door that read 2215. She waved her pass card in front of the door sensor and Kelsi heard and electronic pop as the lock disengaged. Corra pushed the door open.

The living room of the suite was pretty simple and comfortable for the eight people that would be coming and going. It had a couple futons and a handful of the wood frame chairs you usually saw at business offices.

"Our room's first on the right," Corra said. "Come on, I'll help you unpack."

KRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKRKKRKRKRKRKRKKRKRKRK

By the evening Kelsi was ready to plop. She'd been through a barrage of questions by musical theory and composition instructors, then she'd played the piano in different styles for nearly four hours and at one point they'd asked her to sing. She'd only been comfortable with her brief bebut in 'Senior Year' because she knew Ryan would be joining her. But her alone, carrying a song, had led to nerves and a wavering voice.

She still hadn't seen Ryan, which was beginning to worry her.

"I think my fingers have cramps," she moaned.

"That bad, huh?" Corra asked.

From her place flopped on her bed, Kelsi glared up at the other girl. "Don't tell me, you're done for the night."

"Afraid so," Corra chirped happily. "I'm guessing you're not."

"One more," Kelsi answered. "Composition and Choreography."

Corra cocked a dark eyebrow. "Wow. I didn't know that first years could be selected."

"Selected?"

"It's a performance class. Only certain students even get a chance to try out. You must have really impressed them."

Kelsi blushed at the unexpected compliment, avoiding Corra's eyes. "Yeah, well, I had a lot of support and some talented people to work with."

"Well, we better snag some dinner before you have your last meeting."

She really didn't want food. She wanted sleep or to find Ryan. But knowing that both were impossible at the moment, she pushed herself to her feet. Her arms fell at her side, hanging like the arms of a Gorilla.

"That's pathetic," Corra said with a smile touching the ends of her mouth. "You need coffee."

"No. No caffeine. I'm going to have a hard enough time sleeping as it is. Tea. And food."

They headed down to the cafeteria, Kelsi dragging her feet with every step. The cafeteria's rush was beginning to run down. Kelsi and Corra found a table rather quickly and sat down with sandwhiches, chips, a Diet Coke for Corra and peppermint tea for Kelsi. Methodically, Kelsi ate, her blue eyes casting around the room. A number of students had hats on, none of them were at the jaunty angle that Ryan usually wore his.

"Okay, what are you looking for?"

Startled, Kelsi hiccoughed in her chair. "What?"

"You've been looking around like your searching for your lost puppy?" Corra said. "What," - a knowing glint sparkled in her dark eyes - "or who are we looking for?"

Kelsi thought about playing dumb. But she wasn't a very good liar and she was pretty sure Corra would catch her pretty quickly. "A friend."

"A friend?"

"We went to high school together, he won a scholarship too."

"Ah, that kind of friend."

Kelsi shook her head, but felt her cheeks warm up. "It's not like that."

"Do you want it to be?"

Blue eyes shooting to the ceiling in thought, Kelsi caught the clock. "Oh, crap. I've got to go."

"Don't think you're escaping this conversation, Nielsen."

Kelsi snatched up her folder of compositions. "I know."

She ran for the practice room that had been assigned for her final evaluation. The door was closed and she could hear music playing in muffled tones behind the heavy wood. She tried sitting in one of the wire chairs, but after a few moments she would bolt up and start pacing.

Abruptly, her cell phone went off. Fumbling with her folder, she reached into her pocket and pulled it out, flipping the Juke open. "Hello."

"Hey, Kels," Troy's voice filtered through the tiny speaker. "How's it going?"

"It's so good to hear you," she said softly. "It's been so crazy here. How's Berkeley?"

Troy chatted away about basketball practice, his first theater classes, and how psyched he was for the coming year. "So what's going on in my favorite Playmaker's life?"

"Evaluations. Evaluations. And more evaluations. I'm actually waiting for one now."

"So they know you're brilliant, right?"

Kelsi snorted. "I'm not so sure." But then she added, "But I must have done something right. They want to evaluate me for a Choreography and Composition class. They apparently do performances every Wednesday."

"Sounds great," Troy agreed.

From behind her the door cracked open. "I've got to go, Troy. Call you later?"

"Yeah. See you, Kels."

"Bye."

She turned around to enter the practice room and ran straight into a sweaty chest. "Oh, sorry."

"Kels?"

There standing in a t-shirt and sweats, a towel draped over one shoulder with a grey fedora perched at the familiar angle, was her friend and fellow scholarship recipient.

She blinked, unaware of the grin that crossed her features. "Ryan."

"When I didn't see you this morning, I was worried I would have to make good on my threat," he teased. He looked at her, surely confused by her paralysis. "Don't I get a hug?" Kelsi walked into his open arms and wrapped her hands around his neck.

Albuquerque was nearly on the other side of the country, but for the first time, Kelsi felt like she was at home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Time**

Ryan stepped away as he heard a voice clearing behind him. Mr. Lockwood stood behind them, a wry expression on his aristocratic features as he regarded the two former East High students. He did his best to avoid dunking under the intense scrutiny. He wasn't a kid anymore and he had no reason to be ashamed of hugging his friend.

However, there was a decided sparkle in Mr. Lockwood's eyes, that made Ryan uneasy.

"Ms. Nielsen, we're ready for you," the instructor said in a cultured British voice.

Kelsi's bright eyes widened.

'Sorry,' Ryan mouthed.

She gave him a shrug and stepped around him and grabbed a folder on a chair near the door before disappearing behind it. Mr. Lockwood gave him a parting nod.

Not willing to loose track of the small composer again, Ryan sat in the recently vacated chair and patted the sweat on his brow with the towel. He was exhausted, but he also felt a sense of euphoria from the endorphins pumping through his veins. Resting his head against the wall, he closed his eyes and listened to the muffled sounds of familiar melodies.

So many songs he and the Wildcats had performed on the stage. Kelsi's music that, to him at least, was as intoxicating and exciting to sing as any of the professional composers. There was something incredibly satisfying performing a piece while the author watched.

Without realizing it, he began to hum and then sing to the music playing on the other side of the door.

"When I hear my favorite song, I know that we belong," he sung softly. "Cause you are the music in me."

He was surprised to hear the melodic line pick up, moving from the original version to the jazzed up version Sharpay had forced upon her the year before. He'd always been fond of both, even if he slightly sided on the rockier version for preference sake. It had been hard to shake the childhood dream of being a rock star.

Of course, the dream had been squashed by Sharpay's pink heel when she'd proclaimed that they were going to be Thespians and rule the stage and the big screen together. For all her harping, Ryan would always be thankful to her for that. She'd stumbled into the one thing that brought him the most joy.

The music stopped and in its place the rising and falling cadence of conversation followed. Shifting in his chair, he leaned his ear against the door, hoping to catch a few words. He had little doubt that they would select Kelsi, but they were holding their final decisions until the last day of First Year orientation.

Footsteps sounded and Ryan pulled his head back before Kelsi pulled open the door. Her checks were slightly pink, which Ryan took to mean it went well. Kelsi only looked so flustered when people complimented her. Insults and threats, she'd learned to take stoically.

Mr. Lockwood handed her the folder she'd brought in. "I look forward to hearing more from you Ms. Nielsen."

"Thank you, sir," Kelsi replied, not quite meeting the aristocratic man's eyes.

"You'll be walking her to her dorm, Mr. Evans," Mr. Lockwood said this as a statement.

"Of course," Ryan said with a beaming smile.

"Very well, then," the older man intoned with a tip of his head. "Good night."

They said their goodbyes and made to leave. Ryan felt his hand reach out to take hers, but he stopped it in mid swing.

Troy and Gabriella had invited Kelsi, Chad, and some of the other Wildcats on a roadtrip to California. It was supposed to be a last ditch of summer fun before the stress of college ruled its ugly head. Ryan suspected that Troy had just been afraid his behemoth of a truck wouldn't make it all the way back to California and wanted the extra hands.

He hadn't seen Kelsi in a month, perhaps the longest he'd ever not seen he in his life.

Those thirty-odd days seemed such a long time.

And boy, did he hate this felling of self-doubt and lack of Evan's confidence. Time to nip that in the bud.

"So what are you doing on Labor Day?" Suave, thy name is Ryan Evans.

Kelsi's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Nothing planned."

"Alright then," he said, flashing her that smile he was pretty sure had gotten her to agree to prom. "It's a date."

"Ryan," she said on a laugh. "Are you ever going to ask me? One of these days I may just not show up."

He shook his head. "No way. Taylor McKessie, you are not."

She stopped and folded her arms over her chest. "Is that so?" She kicked a challenge eyebrow towards her hairline.

Ryan had been pleasantly surprised to see that Kelsi did have a teasing side to her and had taken a great pleasure in using this talent against him. He mirrored her position, even cocking his left brow to her right.

They stood there, staring each other down in the middle of the Juilliard School, each with a devilish smile.

Kelsi broke first, laughing. "Fine. Fine. I will allow myself to be a pawn in your latest production."

Tossing his arms in the air in victory, Ryan assured her, "You won't regret it."

"Do I at least get to know what you've got planned?"

"Maybe."

She shoved at his shoulder. "Ryan?"

"Kels, a good magician never shares his tricks," he tried to dodge. He was fast on his feet, but not so much in his planning. All he'd known was that he'd wanted to grab the last uninterrupted day they were likely to have in the next couple of months and spend it with her.

"You aren't a magician."

"Yes, but I have played one on stage." He waved this away.

"How about I make you a deal? You tell me what you've got planned and I'll give you the present I got you while I was in California."

Fingering his chin, he said, "You got me a present, huh?"

"Don't read too much into it, Evans. We were shopping and saw it, and well, it really is you."

"Fine, I agree to your terms," he held out his hand and they shook on it.

Ryan followed her up to her dorm. She knocked before opening the door.

"Guess everyone is still out," Kelsi murmured, moving to the large trunk in front of her bed.

"Probably blowing off steam," Ryan said, flopping onto her bed. "It's been a rough day." He was suddenly aware how he must look. Bedraggled, sweat stains on his t-shirt and sweats, while Kelsi looked tired but beautiful.

Kelsi paused from her rummaging, her eyes taking on that far away look she got when she was thinking of her latest project and everything it took to coordinate it. "Yea. Registration starts early. What are you going to take for your liberal arts credit? I was thinking about starting off with Myth and Meaning. But I do..."

"Kels," Ryan cut her off. "Breath."

"Breath," she agreed, doing as instructed.

"Good," he said, gazing fondly at her. "I think you should reconsider yoga."

"Do you think it's offered here?"

Fearful that he'd lose her in another tirade, he answered quickly, "If not, I'll teach you myself."

She cocked her head to one side, peering at him suspiciously. "Are you patronizing me?"

"Never," he said, swearing by an up-raised hand.

"Okay. You get your gift then. Close your eyes."

He did so, holding up his hands and waving them dramatically in the air.

"No wonder you're so thin, you're always moving," she said amused. "Hold still."

Some light and circular plopped into his hands. He peered one eye open and blurry gazed at something orange. Popped open the other eye. That something orange was the bill of white cap that had a comic blue sailors cap on it, with large half oval eyes.

"Donald Duck."

Slyly, she made a turn with her finger. "Look at the back."

Stitched on the back of the cap, in neat white dashes was the name 'Ducky'. He gave a groan and rolled his eyes. "Who told?"

"Gabby," Kelsi replied, entirely too happy. "She heard your mother call you that last summer and when we saw this....," she ended with a shrug.

Full of good-nature, he pulled the cap over his mused hair. "Mother's are good for many things, nicknames isn't one of them."

"I think it's cute," she defended.

"You would. I bet Troy and Chad nearly died with laughter."

"There were tears," she said with feigned reluctance. "Okay, your turn."

Standing up, he centered himself in front of her, bowed deeply and said in his best impersonation of Mr. Lockwood. "Ms. Nielson, I present to you, your tour guide for one fabulous day in New York City, compliments ala moi."

"What are we doing?"

He wagged a finger in front of her. "I only promised to tell you my plan, I didn't mention details."

Kelsi's pout was more of a struggling smile, but it affected Ryan more than any of Sharpay's classic sulks. 'Remain firm, Evans. Remain firm.'

"Nope. Nada. These lips will not sink ships."

"You're evil, you know that."

"Guilty."

Reaching up, she tweaked his cap. "I've missed you, Drama King."

"Me too, my tiny Composer."


End file.
